World's Oldest Professional Footballer Kazuyoshi Miura Plays At 58
Former international Miura, affectionately called 'King Kazu," is the oldest professional footballer in Japan and likely beyond.
He appeared as an 82nd-minute substitute for Atletico Suzuka Club on Sunday, contributing to their 2-1 victory in the Japan Football League.
Miura, one of Asia's most renowned footballers in the 1990s, did not score but expressed his satisfaction to reporters, saying he was 'glad I was able to contribute" at 58 years and 109 days old.
'Thanks to help from my teammates and trainers, I've been able to make it this far. Now I want to raise my game even more," he said.
Miura returned to Japan last year after spending two seasons with Portuguese second-division team Oliveirense, where he made nine appearances on loan from Yokohama FC.
He made his debut in 1986 with Brazilian side Santos and has also played in Italy, Croatia, and Australia.
The forward helped elevate football's profile in Japan when the professional J-League was launched in 1993.
He debuted for Japan in 1990 but was famously excluded from the squad for their first World Cup finals in 1998, despite scoring 55 goals in 89 games for the national team.
With AFP Inputs
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
16 minutes ago
- The Hindu
German regulator pushes for more fan control of football clubs like Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig
Top German football clubs, including Bayer Leverkusen and Leipzig, face the prospect of handing over more control to fans in future after a regulator intervened. A statement Monday from Germany's antitrust regulator, the Federal Cartel Office, said it wants to see tighter enforcement of the rule known as 50-plus-1 which requires a football club's membership to have majority voting rights over how the team is run. The regulator said recent European court rulings suggest permanent exemptions from 50-plus-1 for last year's champion Leverkusen and fellow top-tier club Wolfsburg seem 'no longer possible.' It said efforts should be made in the future to ensure the club's professional football operations come under the control of membership organisations, but didn't name any deadline. ALSO READ: Who is Estevao Willian, the Brazilian wonderkid touted as the 'next Neymar'? Leverkusen and Wolfsburg were founded as workers' teams at major companies which own the clubs, with pharmaceutical giant Bayer at Leverkusen, and car manufacturer Volkswagen at Wolfsburg. Their long-term involvement led to the clubs getting exemptions from 50-plus-1. The regulator also said the Bundesliga needs to ensure the clubs it oversees 'offer their fans the opportunity to become a new full member with voting rights.' That appears to affect Leipzig and its relationship with drinks giant Red Bull, though they weren't directly named by the regulator in Tuesday's statement. The club was founded by Red Bull in 2009 and is part of its international network of football clubs. It grants voting rights to far fewer people than most German clubs. Local media reported that only 23 members had the right to vote at Leipzig as of last year. Leverkusen said in a statement that the Federal Cartel Office's new approach was a 'remarkable change of course'. The club added that it does not consider the regulator's reasoning to be 'convincing' and that it will examine the ruling and reserve all legal options. Hans-Joachim Watzke, speaker of the league's executive board, said it stands behind 50-plus-1, which he called 'an elementary component of German soccer.' Fan control means outside investors can't buy up German clubs outright like they can in the English Premier League and other competitions. It's also one reason why Germany hasn't seen the sort of spending sprees and dramatic shifts in competitive balance which followed takeovers at clubs like Manchester City, Chelsea or Paris Saint-Germain in the past. Fans often argue the rule keeps clubs rooted in their communities but still allows a limited role for investment. Sportswear giant Adidas is among the minority shareholders who've helped member-run Bayern Munich win a string of titles, while Borussia Dortmund shares are traded on the stock market. Fan power is a force in German football outside of the boardroom, too. Following protests, the league abandoned plans to sell a stake in its media rights income last year. While the regulator's statement may eventually change how some top clubs are run, it could take a while. The regulator has been examining German men's football for around seven years now and has brought about limited changes before. Related Topics Bundesliga
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
27 minutes ago
- First Post
Strong finish helps India double their medal haul at ISSF World Cup in Munich
The Indian shooting contingent registered their third top-three finish in four World Cups this year with two gold and as many bronze medals in Munich, which hosts one of the most prestigious and challenging tournaments on the ISSF's annual calendar. read more Rising shooting star Suruchi Singh won a third consecutive gold in the women's 10m air pistol event at the ISSF World Cup in Munich. Image credit: X/@OfficialNRAI A string of consistent final appearances and two gold medals powered India to a commendable third-place finish at the recently-concluded World Cup in Munich, one of the most prestigious and challenging tournaments on the ISSF's annual calendar. The tournament saw India register their third top-three finish this year in four World Cups, with two gold and as many bronze medals. The team not only improved its standing from joint-third last year, but also doubled its medal count, including the number of gold. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'The Munich World Cup which is an annual feature of the International Shooting calendar and is held at the revered Olympic Shooting range, which hosted the sport at the 1972 Munich Olympics, has once again brought out the best in our rifle and pistol shooters,' said K Sultan Singh, Secretary General, National Rifle Association of India (NRAI). He added, 'When many were saying and quite rightly so, that India will find it very tough given the large field, quality of competition and the fact that some of our best were not part of the squad, our athletes have proven that the depth in Indian shooting is more formidable than ever before. 'On behalf of the NRAI, I congratulate the entire squad including the coaches and support staff, for the amazing results, not only in Munich, but throughout the year.' 🇮🇳 India Shone Bright at the ISSF World Cup 2025, Munich! 🇮🇳 Our sharpshooters delivered a stellar performance, bringing home a total of 4 medals 🏅 from the prestigious event! 🥇 Suruchi Singh won Gold in Women's 10m Air Pistol 🥇 Arya Borse & Arjun Babuta clinched Gold in 10m… — SAI Media (@Media_SAI) June 16, 2025 STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The high point for India at Munich this year, as also of this whole international season, has been the stunning consistency of rising women's pistol star Suruchi Singh. The Haryana teenager won an unprecedented third consecutive individual ISSF World Cup stage gold in the women's 10m air pistol, two months after a memorable debut in Buenos Aires. She went where no Indian has ever gone before. The other highlight was Arya Borse and Olympian Arjun Babuta's tremendous win over the Chinese world record holders Sheng Lihao and Wang Zifei, the former also the Olympic champion in the event, in the 10m air rifle mixed team final, where they completely outgunned their opponents 17-7. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD With some incredible and consistent series of high scores, they showcased the depth and new-found confidence in Indian shooting. Elavenil Valarivan (women's 10m air rifle), a two-time Olympian, and Sift Kaur Samra (50m rifle 3 positions women), Olympian and world record holder, also reinforced their status as world-class shooters with their bronze-winning performances in Munich. Elavenil also set a new qualifications national record of 635.9 en route to her bronze while Suruchi equalled Manu Bhaker's qualifications national mark of 588 in the women's air pistol. In keeping with the trend this year, Indian World Cup debutants also delivered encouraging performances in strong fields. Ananya Naidu shot a solid 632.4 to finish 13th in women's 10m air rifle, while Nishant Rawat (10m air pistol men) and Aditya Malra (air pistol men) shot scores of 582 and 578 to finish 10th and 27th respectively. India made a total of seven finals in the 10 events in Munich with Bhaker (women's 25m pistol), Varun Tomar (men's 10m air pistol) and Chain Singh (men's 3P) making the cut. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD China finished on top of the standings with seven medals including four gold while Norway edged India to second on the basis of having won a silver with the same number of golds and medals as India. A total of 11 nations including the individual neutral athletes group won medals in Munich. The ISSF bandwagon will move to Lonato Del Garda in Italy next month for the year's fourth Shotgun World Cup stage, while the fourth and final rifle/pistol World Cup is scheduled for Ningbo in China in September.
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
‘Aiden Markram's knock right up there with either of Travis Head's centuries vs India in WTC and World Cup finals,' says Ricky Ponting
Travis Head hit centuries in two finals in ICC events in the last two years, both against India, to lead Australia to victory on both occasions – at the 2023 World Test Championship Final and 2023 World Cup. Now, South Africa's Aiden Markram nearly played through their second innings in the 2025 WTC Final against Australia and powered them to a historic win and Ricky Ponting thinks that his knock as good as either of the two aforementioned tons scored by Head. 'When you look back through big ICC events, I think the first thing that probably comes to mind is probably Travis Head's innings (137) in the World Cup final, and then the last World Test Championship final (163). And this one's got to be absolutely as good as any of those, considering the stage, considering where South African cricket's been over the last couple of years, particularly their Test side,' Ponting told ICC Digital. The Temba Bavuma-led South Africa side won the WTC final at Lords' last week with a five-wicket win over defending champions Australia. While it was the side's eight successive win in Tests, that mattered for nought compared to the fact that it was the first time since they won the 1998 ICC Knockout Trophy, which has since gone on to become the Champions Trophy. South Africa have since developed a reputation of a team that sends sides considered among the best before tournaments but would always crash out of them, mostly in rather spectacular ways. This time, though, South Africa were clinical while chasing a target of 282 largely thanks to Markram's knock of 136 in 207 balls, his eighth Test century. He had been dismissed for a duck in the first innings. Ponting said that he couldn't believe that Markram was not part of the South African squad that toured Australia for the 2022/23 series. 'To be able to stand up and perform like that when your team needs you the most is what reputations are made of. I think everyone's always known how good a player Aiden Markram was. And I must admit, a couple of years ago when South Africa toured Australia, I couldn't believe that Aiden Markram wasn't in that touring squad at all. He didn't even make the squad. And here we are a couple of years later and he's played one of probably his greatest knocks. I'm sure if you asked him, he'd probably say that that's the knock that he's most proud of in his Test career, and I am pretty sure his teammates who watched it all unfold would probably say the same thing. So, it's a great individual achievement for him, and it's a magnificent achievement for the South African team,' said Ponting.
